Thanks a lot for the interview and support. My name is Aaron, I’ve been a part of Falls of Rauros since 2005 at the band’s inception. Our home base is Portland, Maine, where we spend the vast majority of our time and energy.

– Who would you mention as your main influences when it comes to your sound and your music?

Influences on our music seem to be a little less clear these days than in the earlier years of the band. At this point I would say any music we listen to has an influence, and we hope to be cognizant of what works and doesn’t work for us when we hear ANY music whatsoever. It would be impossible to fairly narrow it down, but Bathory is of course a massive influence on us as well as bands like Emperor and Enslaved. “Non-metal” music (there’s a lot of this out there) is an enormous presence in our personal listening and would be hard to pin down as well. Songs: Ohia, Neil Young, Will Oldham, Earth, etc. etc. etc.

– Your lyrics are really emphasizing the emotions carried by the music, but they’re also often reminiscent of H.D.Thoreau’s philosophy and ideas or german romanticism. Is it something important for Falls of Rauros to inspire and show people a way back to Nature?

While that’s certainly a recurring theme in our music it’s usually not intended to be preachy or even a “guide” of any sort. Often the lyrics express reverence toward the natural world and depictions of humankind’s relationship with the world. Others touch upon self-destructive tendencies or borderline escapism and the function of the natural world in those scenarios. I try to come at the familiar topic from varying angles and branch out from there. “Believe in no Coming Shore” is primarily focused on almost entirely different lyrical themes, for example. Hopefully when published they will communicate to the listener somewhat effectively. We’ll see.

– You come from Maine, a coastal state covered with forests, Do you think it has an impact on your music in the same way as western norwegian landscapes might have inspired black metal bands such as Ulver, Windir or Burzum back in the 90’s?

Definitely. We try to spend as much time as possible camping or hiking in Maine, and even when in a city here such as Portland we aren’t far from some looming natural sanctuary. That kind of beauty is perpetually in the back of our minds if not at the forefront. As I mentioned before it doesn’t always translate directly into our lyrics but the natural world and specifically the climate of Maine and the Northeast heavily influences our music and that undercurrent is pretty apparent throughout.

– How would you describe your new album?

I’m typically not comfortable describing our music. It’s really hard to explain how we perceive our music versus how a listener interprets it. I would say “Believe in no Coming Shore” is very different from our last two records, both musically and lyrically. Anyway it’s certainly intended to be listened to from start to finish. “Ancestors of Shadow” and “Ancestors of Smoke” would be the two most obviously connected songs which share a lyrical theme but also several musical ones. The album was written live as a full band, and a lot of the music you hear was recorded live in the studio as opposed to tracking everything individually. This was a first for us. I don’t know, you’ll just have to listen to the album when it’s released and that should effectively describe it!

– Any chance for a european tour in a near future?

The idea of a European tour is amazing and I know we all want to do that. Realistically it may be awhile off yet, but I can almost guarantee we will some day. Exactly when no one knows… these things are expensive when you’re from the US. As of now we’ve never even toured the West Coast of the US so we should probably make that happen as a stepping stone. Time will tell!